Thanksgiving 2014

After the Turkey Trot, we headed over to Esteban's parents' house for dinner.  Family drove in from Southern California, so we had a full house of 15 people.  I love a house full of laughter and family.  

It is always so great to see our niece Aiyana.  We love hanging out on the back patio and catching up on her life.

Our niece Alejandra was there too.  She chased the dogs around.  They are both so good with little kids.  She kept grabbing Susie's ear saying "ear" "ear".

Aiyana is so good with Alejandra.  She plays with her and shows her things.  We can hardly wait to have our own children so that they can bond.  :)

After awhile, the dogs were going crazy from the food smells, so we decided to go on a walk. Both girls asked to come along and so we went to the park to play.

It was easy to imagine taking similar walks with our children and dogs some day.

Back at the house, Aiyana and I got into an intense game of tic tac toe.  Games were a big part of holidays around my house, so it was fun to share that tradition.

Getting healthy

One of our goals is to use the time that we are waiting to start a family to get healthier.  Today, we started a new family tradition of the Thanksgiving morning Turkey Trot.  

It was awesome to see all of the families out here.  We can't wait to share this tradition with our children someday and help them love staying active and healthy.

Halloween

We really look forward to building traditions with our children.  Holidays are really important to is, so we were glad excited when our friends wanted to come over and carve pumpkins with their kids.  

Here is adorable Jada scraping out the "pumpkin brains" as she calls them

This is her little sister Maya supervising

Jada and I are proud of our finished product!

I love my job

A student brought me a paper that she filled out and put in the front of her notebook at the beginning of the school year.  She said that it motivated her all year long.  

This is why I do what I do.  I was so touched and inspired.  I love my job.  :)

Memorial Day

We had an impromptu BBQ today with some friends and family.

Esteban and Maya, our friend's daughter.  He is the baby whisperer and he had her asleep not long after this.

Our niece Allie playing with Suzy our dog.  Both dogs are so good with kids.  They had kids chasing them around, pulling their ears, and spraying them with bottles.  They never once reacted any way other than running away.

I brought out some Tupperware and water for Allie and Jada (Maya's sister) to play.  It kept them involved for hours.

Niece Day!!

About once a month, we are lucky enough to babysit our 1.5 year old niece for an entire day.  We had so much fun!

Our dogs are so good with her.  She has started trying to pick them up and pull on their ears. They don't even react.

She loved playing with the Connect Four.

At the neighborhood park.  She loved the slide.

Cuddling with her uncle's stuffed monkey before nap time.

Hanging with Maya

Today was our friend Jada's 4th birthday.  (She is the girl that Laura is holding in our Dear Birthmother letter).    We got the chance to also hang out with Maya, her little sister.  We could not think of a more perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon at the park.

Jumbotron

I have been lucky recently to spend a lot of time with my 7 year old niece.  Every holiday that we get together, I always make a point of hanging out with her since she is the only kid who is between 1.5 years old and 18 in our family.  So, when my cheerleaders had a kids camp, I wanted to make sure she came.  Her grandpa said that, "Aiyana really likes you and jumped at the chance to spend a whole day with you." :)  So here she is, a little lost in the routine, at the kids camp.

A few days later, we were invited to go to the Sharks game with her and her family.  We were having such a good time that we made the Jumbotron!  

After we ended up on the screen, I got lots of texts from friends who saw us on the Jumbotron.  So fun!

Aiyana is amazing with our 1.5 year old niece.  I know she will be so good with our child one day too.